Looking for 12Kw multi fuel stove

redlady_1

Hi All.


We have an open plan room with a vaulted ceiling and need a stove to fit in the corner of the room by bifold doors. I have looked at Contura and Norpeis (but that only goes up to about a 6 kw) and I wondered whether you recommend any to me please.


Thanks


Red

alleycat`

That's a hefty sized stove and it'll need some feeding.
How big is the room?

redlady_1

7 x 5 x 5 metres. Its a big room! We have seen an Invicta that we like but have no knowledge of whether they are any good or not

alleycat`

Is it badly insulated / old?
Just trying to work out how you got to 12Kw for the sizing.

I agree it's a big room but that size may be overkill.
I obviously can't see it so i'm not saying it's wrong it's just a concern as It's better to run a stove "hard" as opposed to having to "slumber" a beast.

Purely for the sake of the chimney / soot / creosote production.

I believe ABadger has (or had) a largish stove from Hunter. Hopefully he'll be about at some point to give some feedback.

A._Badger

Alleycat is right, I've got a Hunter, which I bought new around five or six years.ago.

My experience (this isn't my first stove) suggests that some of the calculators for required output for a given space are optimistic. I should probably add to that I live in a very old (as in hundreds of years old) listed house which has almost no insulation and, thanks to the same gummint that insists we must all live in hermetically sealed sweat lodges, cannot have any installed due to the listing. Go figure, as the Americans say!

That said, another property I own isn't as old and that too has a stove in it which considerably exceeds the recommendations and certainly isn't over heated.

I mention that because I think it's important that people look at their houses on an individual basis and don't rely on figures which have been based on a completely different application.

That said, and despite the doom-sayers, who look down their noses at Hunters, mine has performed very well - faultlessly, in fact.

I have some design criticisms (the ash pan should be at least twice the depth) and I don't doubt it lacks some of the fine control that you get with some more complicated and expensive stoves.

But there's the rub. I bought a Ford Focus of a stove, knowing I was buying a Ford Focus. It does a reliable job at a very fair price.If I'd wanted to impress the neighbours, I could have bought a more expensive type. It might (might) have been better to use, but I doubt it would give out any more heat. Beware of stove retailers - some are little better than the worst sort of used car salesmen!

What I am really glad I didn't do was buy one of the expensive European cast iron stoves that, in some cases, don't seem to offer the sophistication of the advanced British made stoves (Clearview and the like) but still cost a small fortune.

When I bough this house (which needed a small fortune spending on it) I was on a tight budget. If I were buying now, I might buy a Woodwarm or a Charnwood instead, but I certainly don't regret buying the reliable and cost effective Hunter.

I hope that helps. Please feel free to ask questions.

Smiley_Dan

Some of the Firebelly stoves are 12kW.

I think sometimes output may disappoint because the efficiency quoted is... optimistic.

silverwhistle

You certainly won't go wrong with a Contura: I have a small 5kW one, and last winter effectively didn't use the gas central heating in my 3 bedroom house. Firstly the lounge would warm, then I'd open the door to the dining room and finally the one to the hall from whence heat would rise upstairs. The chimney breast in the main upstairs bedroom would also contribute warmth at the end of the day. I burnt fairly hot but never over-fired and I certainly didn't slumber it.

You might need 12kW, certainly more than me, but depending on the house you might get away with less.